Great question and one we get asked regularly. Similar to determining the cost of a website, there are a few variables that we need to take into account when looking at how long a web design project will take.
We’ll go into detail about how these variables can effect the time scale of a project and also look at some examples, so you know what to expect.
The key variables/ factors #
When estimating how long a website will take to design and build, there are three main factors web designers need to know.
- The size of the site (the number of pages and/ or products),
- Complexity of the design,
- Complexity of the site’s functions.
They all impact the number of hours required by the developer and therefore impact the total project timeline.
Once the above three factors are determined, usually web developers and designers are able to accurately give a timeline for the project.
Example timelines for different websites #
We’ll be looking at the main types of websites and giving you some ball park figures as to how long they should take.
The timelines below are pulled from our experience building sites over the past few years.
Again, just to stress they are ball park figures.
The timelines also assume all content supplied by the client is done so in a timely manner.
Holding pages #
Holding pages are typically one page sites that are put up as ‘placeholders’ until the actual website is built and put in its place.
Usually holding pages are relatively straight forward and simple to set up.
Typically we’re talking hours or, at most, a day or two with these types of ‘sites’.
Small websites such as blogs & brochure sites #
For small info/ brochure websites or blogs, we estimate roughly 2 – 4 weeks from start to finish.
The timeframe includes the design consultation. This is the time discussing the layout and the flow of the site with the client before any actual development takes place.
E-commerce (online shops) #
Online shops can take anywhere from 1 – 3 months.
As you can imagine a lot more development time is required for e-commerce sites as there is much more functionality required, e.g. the basket & checkout system, order & stock management and so on.
Web apps #
Similar to e-commerce sites (online shops), in our experience, can take anywhere from 1 – 6 months.
Again, this largely depends on the functionality required.